


419. cross-bred

by piggy09



Series: The Sestre Daily Drabble Project [313]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 21:02:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10862022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piggy09/pseuds/piggy09
Summary: Helena clicks her claws together, turns to look at Sarah. Sarah is looking her in thatwayagain, like Helena is a sad thing. A very sad monster.





	419. cross-bred

**Author's Note:**

> [warning: cannibalism]

“She’s good at killing things,” Sarah says, and Helena grins a mouthful of knife-teeth at Cosima and Alison. They both shrink back, eyes wide, faces pale. Helena is used to that. People look at Helena like that all the time – they did that when Maggie and Tomas would let her out of the back of the van so she could hunt. They would look at her and they would scream. Sometimes Helena would get so mad at them screaming that she would kill them, claws and teeth and snarling, but mostly she would ignore them.

They never smelled right, anyways. The things—

The _people_ she was killing, before, they smell like Cosima and Alison do. Like plastic warmed by the sun. They’re human, or so Sarah tells her, and Helena doesn’t know how to explain that they probably aren’t.

“Hey,” Cosima says. “I’m Cosima, I’m – your sister.” (She isn’t Helena’s sister, she is a Barbie doll, she is melting in the heat, her skin is peach-plastic melting off.) She holds her arms out open for a hug. Helena clicks her claws together, turns to look at Sarah. Sarah is looking her in that _way_ again, like Helena is a sad thing. A very sad monster.

Kira had said that Helena was a monster, but probably a good one. Her tiny hand had fit neatly between Helena’s claws. She hadn’t let go. _It’s okay_ , she’d said. _There are stories where the monster’s good, I promise._

Helena steps into the hug. It’s the third hug of her life. Behind her she can smell Sarah tensing up, sparks off of a lighter. Helena steps back out of the hug.

Alison is whispering something to Sarah. Helena doesn’t want to look at Cosima, in case Cosima touches her again. If Alison touches Sarah Helena could gut her. She could rip Alison’s belly open with her teeth – it would be easy, it would feel good, Sarah could hold Helena’s hand and Sarah’s fingers could fit right between her claws. Sarah doesn’t have claws, so maybe she could push at the places where Helena’s spine bulges, and she could make Helena look like a person again. Maggie used to do that, but Maggie is dead now.

Sarah turns and sees Helena looking at her and abruptly she stops reassuring Alison. Her clawless hands are in the air, hovering. Helena knew that Sarah was human the very first time she met her, because Sarah just smelled like pepper and sweat. She wasn’t a doll even a little bit. Helena bites her lip straight through with her teeth, lets go; blood wells at the hole, and she curls her tongue out and around her lip.

“You know what?” Sarah says. “Hold on.” She steps towards the door, jerks her head to the side so that Helena will follow her. Helena will follow her, anywhere. She goes outside.

“Helena,” Sarah says, “I need you to be…” she doesn’t say a word. Helena doesn’t know how to help her if she doesn’t say a word.

“Good?” she says.

“Yeah,” Sarah says, sounding relieved. “Good. Can you do that for me, meat—Helena?”

(Helena crouched over Daniel’s body, after letting Sarah down from the shower. Helena with her sharp teeth and the meat between them, Helena so hungry from running all this way to Sarah. Daniel going away bit by meat bit. Sarah watching them, face pale.)

(Sarah only called Helena “meathead” one time. Every time after that she’s stopped.)

“I am trying,” Helena says. She scratches her claws against the wall until Sarah shakes her head; then she brings her claws to her mouth and licks the paint off of them. Her tongue is long enough to curl all the way around her claw, and that’s good. She tries to smile at Sarah but Sarah is looking horrified again so she stops.

“Just be – normal,” Sarah says. “Like us. Alright?”

Helena shows Sarah her hands. Her claws are like small knives on her fingertips, and they click hollowly against each other when Helena splays and unsplays her fingers.

Sarah sighs, yanks Helena’s hand down. “I know you know how,” she says.

Helena knows how to curl her fists tight, so tight her palm bleeds but it doesn’t trickle out. She does that. Her claws dig into her hand and stay there, embedded. She closes her mouth and pretends that her teeth aren’t bulging at the inside of her lips.

“Great,” Sarah says. “Can you stand up straight for me?”

No. Helena tries it anyways; her spine slumps back down, bulging wrong. She shrugs her shoulders and scuffs one foot on the ground.

“That’s alright,” Sarah says. “That’s – that’s good, Helena.”

Helena smiles at that and then catches herself and closes her mouth again. Good good good. Good good good good good Helena is good.

Sarah tugs Helena’s collar up, sighs and sort of – pats at Helena’s hair. “You deserve to be here with us,” she says, like she’s trying to convince herself.

Helena doesn’t say anything because she’s keeping her mouth shut because she’s good. She nods a little bit but not too much because Sarah just patted her hair and she’s good.

“You’re just like us,” Sarah says. “Only—” she looks at Helena’s fists, but they’re just fists. All the bleeding is on the inside where Sarah can’t see it. “Yeah,” Sarah says. “Just – just like us.”

She claps Helena’s shoulder with one hand. “Alright,” she says. “You wanna go back in?”

Helena nods, once, and follows. When Sarah goes back inside Helena breathes in, smells sweat and hot sparks. She holds the smell on the inside of her nose and goes through the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please kudos + comment if you enjoyed! :)


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